June 8, 2008 4:30 PM PDT

Robbie Bach touts Windows Mobile over iPhone, BlackBerry

Posted by Steven Musil

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, told the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview published Sunday that the company has no plans to put up a Zune phone to compete with iPhone.

Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment & Devices Division.

(Credit: Microsoft)

On the eve of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where a new iPhone is rumored to be unveiled, the man who is charge of developing Xbox, Zune, and Windows Mobile began his question-and-answer session with the paper by touting the success of Windows Mobile.

"We will outsell the iPhone," he told the newspaper."We will outsell the BlackBerry."

"We don't make phones ourselves. We don't have any plans to make phones ourselves," the told the paper. "Our focus is on the belief that a phone is a very personal thing. Different people want different types of phones. We think that is going to continue, and we think Windows Mobile is in a great position to service all those different opportunities."

He went on to say that the phone itself is just one component of smartphones' success.

"It's about browsing. It's about music. It's about video. It's about e-mails, text messaging, and photos."

On the topic of mobile browsing, Bach also addressed the issue of the lack of advertising success in mobile Web browsing, saying that it's still a work in progress.

"The business model for browsing on a phone has not gotten itself completely clear yet," he said. "In the PC space, the way people monetize the Internet is through advertising. Now in the phone space, we believe that advertising will be a part of that experience, but it's a different form factor."

Bach also touched on entertainment issues, including Microsoft's backing of the now-largely extinct HD DVD format, pointing out that many consumers say they can't see a substantial picture quality improvement with next-generation discs.

"You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player. The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, 'I am not going to pay extra for that.'"

And can we expect to see the company embrace Blu-ray in the next version of its Xbox game console?

"There is nothing to even talk about right now with regard to the next generation. That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about."

However, CrunchGear is reporting that a tipster with "close friend who works at Microsoft" said they were told that Microsoft will try to upstage Apple on Monday with the announcement that an Blu-ray Xbox 360 will be available by the Christmas holiday shopping season.